Young girl behind barbed wire at river's edge behind the Taj Mahal, Agra, India. Due to terrorism threats, the Indian government has placed barbed wire along the river and placed guard towers to prvent terrorist attacks against the Taj Mahal. Locals like this young girl, still walk along the river. She, and other children stopped to pose for us, and I gave her a few rupees for her cooperation. Nikon D700, 60mm, 1/320@f5.

Woman changing into dry red sari after bathing at ghat along Ganges river at Haridwar, Uttar Pradesh, India during the Kumbh Mela festival. Nikon D700, 66mm, 1/160@f22.

Woman meditating on the ghat overlooking the Ganges River at Varanasi, India.

After photographing various people against painted walls and clothes, I felt I was missing photographs as the backgrounds were too busy. So one morning in Haridwar, I bought this red cloth and some clothes pins and began setting up a mini studio and asked people to pose in front of the cloth. This photo was one of the first I took, and had not yet had the fold marks ironed out of the cloth. This image was taken in a village of saddhus in the center of Haridwar,Uttarakhand, during the Kumbh Mela festival. Nikon D700, 52mm, 1/125@f5.6

I would pin my red cloth against barred windows on the street and ask people to pose for me. I would take two photos each, and at times had a line of four or five people waiting to have their photo taken. I gave them no directions how to stand, and each subject just took a few seconds to photograph. This image was taken during the Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. Nikon D700, 62mm, 1/500@f 5.

I love the colors that are present in India, both in the clothes people wear and on the buildings as well. This girl was with a group of about six teenagers who were in Haridwar to bath in the Ganges during the Kumbh Mela festival that is held once every 12 years in Haridwar. I has taken several photos of the group and then asked them, by motioning since I don't speak Hindi, to let me take their individual photos against the red wall that was inside of the building at this particular bathing ghat. Haridwar, Uttarakhand. Nikon D700, 66mm, 1/160@f2.8

This gypsy girl was one of a group of gypsies who were selling beaded necklaces that morning on the ghat by the Narmada River at Maheshwar, in Madhya Pradesh. My wife, Sayra, had photographed them earlier, but I didn't see an opportunity to take some good images until they were leaving the ghat and no longer trying to sell their jewelry. Nikon D700, 78mm, 1/125@f14.

Tourists being rowed along the Ganges at sunrise, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Nikon D700, 32mm, 1/400@f14.

These women are dancing in a circle to celebrate the wedding of one of their village women. The style of dancing is from Gujarat, although we were in Madhya Pradesh state. They welcomed our being there and allowed Sayra and me to take many photographs. Nikon D700,24mm, 1/125@f9

Girl in a yellow sari near the river behind the Taj Mahal, Agra, India. Nikon D700, 70mm, 1/500@f10